PREACHER: REV. DR. D.N.A. KPOBI
INTRODUCTION
There are some people who like asking questions, but do not listen to the answers. They would come and ask you the question over and over again because they did not listen to your answer. It can be very irritating because such people are not really interested in your answer; indeed in most cases their minds are made up and they have decided the kind of answers they are expecting before they ask. Such people are found in every society and in every age.
Jesus and the Jews
The ancient Jews were like that in their relationship with Jesus. They were full of expectation of the Messiah and so they went to Jesus again and again to ask him whether he was the Messiah. But they had already decided that he was not the Messiah, so the answer he gave was not important to them. The passage from John 10 was one such occasion when they confronted Jesus at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. “How long will you keep us in suspense?” they asked Jesus. They had forgotten that they had asked him that question many times earlier. Many examples can be found in John’s Gospel about the Jews asking him and he giving them the same answer. See for example:
a) when he cleansed the Temple (Jn. 2)
b) when he healed the man at the pool of Bethesda (Jn. 5)
c) when they grumbled at his teaching (Jn. 6)
They had already decided that nobody can come from Nazareth in Galilee and be a Messiah so Jesus could not be the Messiah.
Jesus’ answer to them was therefore direct and to the point: “I did tell you but you do not believe”. It was an indication that he had told them before in the past and that at the time they were asking, they still did not believe. He was indicating to them that theirs was a case of deliberate unbelief. In other words, it was not a lack of knowledge that made them to ask but a lack of faith. What they were doing was actually pretending to have doubts about who Jesus was, whereas the truth was that they had decided not to believe he was the Messiah. Jesus was therefore pointing out to them that it was not he who was keeping them in suspense; it was their lack of faith.
The Jews represent all of us
All of us are like the Jews of Jesus’ time. Just like the Jews, God has given us all the answers we need already, but in most cases we have refused to accept God’s answers. We have made up our minds on many things and when we go to God we only want him to tell us what we want to hear. The history of our relationship with God makes this point very clear. It started all the way back in the Garden of Eden where our first parents decided not to accept God’s warning: if you eat this fruit you will die. Adam and Eve decided not to believe what God had said but to believe the lies of the Devil instead. We have been following in their footsteps ever since. Just consider the questions that you keep asking God and see whether he has not provided the answers in his Word or through his servants – preachers, prophets, elders and even friends.
God is reminding us today that if we are still carrying our questions on our minds, it is not because he has not provided answers but because we do not believe his answers. For example:
a)”whatever you ask in my name….” - if we believe this statement, we would not be seeking solutions to our problems elsewhere. Solutions to our marital, financial, employment and other problems are to be found in Jesus not in human designs.
b) “if you are going to offer your gift at the altar…...” - if we believe this, we would know why our prayers are not being heard by God because he has told us to be at peace with our fellow men before coming to him.
c) As a nation God has made it clear to us that it is only righteousness that would exalt us, but we do not believe it and we keep going to God to ask him to exalt us when our nation is full of injustice and corruption.
The message Jesus gave to the Jews is what he is giving to you and me today.
Jesus continues to teach us
Anytime you hear a sermon or meditate on the Word of God, remember that that is God’s way of reminding you of the answers that he wants you to have. In the Gospels, Jesus never gets tired of teaching the Jews even if it meant repeating himself over and over again. Our passage this morning is one such occasion when Jesus repeats his teachings about his “Messiahship”. He reminds them that it is only when we become like sheep and choose to listen to his voice that we can hope for eternal life. The metaphor of the sheep is meant to indicate those qualities of the sheep that Christians need to emulate, namely, absolute trust, willingness to obey and adequate intelligence to know its leader. To adopt the qualities of the sheep is to be assured of eternal life and to be assured that you are absolutely safe with God and that no-one can snatch you from God’s hands. Eternal life means being eternally in the presence of the God.
Are there questions you want to ask God? Are you willing to accept his answers? Or have you already made up your mind? Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will have eternal life. AMEN.
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